The start of the construction of the new 75,000-square-foot Robinson Health Center in Streetsboro got under way April 24 with groundbreaking, and it marks a nice step forward for the community and Robinson Memorial Hospital.
Located near Streetsboro's square, the Robinson Health Center will stand in the heart of the community and enable Robinson to consolidate seven existing offices with ties to Robinson into one easily accessed and highly visible building.
Med Center One, Northeast Ohio OB/GYN, Portage Internal Medicine, Portage Orthopedics, Portage Pediatrics and Streetsboro Family Practice and Rehab Center all will relocate into the new building, which also will include an imaging center with MRI and X-Ray services, women's imaging services, mammography and ultrasound, sleep lab facilities and a new dermatology practice.
Although the YMCA proposal to attach a branch facility to the new facility has been withdrawn, enough land exists on the 13.6-acre site so that Robinson can entertain other similar proposals if it wishes or simply leave the land vacant at this point in anticipation of growth, which given Streetsboro's recent history, seems likely.
Expanding in Streetsboro in the competitive climate of healthcare is a good business move for Robinson, which continues to be the dominant provider of healthcare in Portage County.
University Hospitals has opened a branch on I-480 in Twinsburg, just up the road from Streetsboro, and the Cleveland Clinic intends to build a medical center near that one. University Hospitals has an extension office that recently opened in Mantua. Thus, the new building that Robinson has under way is partly an effort to protect its turf, but fortunately it will be a great addition to the Streetsboro community in terms of providing state-of-the-art healthcare, too.
As one of the area's fastest growing cities, Streetsboro has become an important player in Portage County. The new Robinson Health Center is an acknowledgment of that. It gives Robinson the opportunity to be the hometown provider of healthcare, which is good for the community, and, once built and opened to the public, it will be a handsome building standing on a well-tended site that can be a source of pride for Streetsboro.